High schools: South Hadley girls a No. 1 seed as MIAA state soccer tournament brackets released

South Hadley’s Cianna Gurek (9) fights for possession against Pope Francis’ Lily Hayes (23) in the second half of the Western Mass. Class B girls soccer final Tuesday night at West Springfield High School. The Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the MIAA Division 4 tournament.

South Hadley’s Cianna Gurek (9) fights for possession against Pope Francis’ Lily Hayes (23) in the second half of the Western Mass. Class B girls soccer final Tuesday night at West Springfield High School. The Tigers are the No. 1 seed in the MIAA Division 4 tournament. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

By JEFF LAJOIE

Staff Writer

Published: 11-01-2023 4:53 PM

The MIAA released its brackets for the boys and girls state soccer tournaments on Wednesday, and the South Hadley girls headline the Hampshire County contingent after earning the No. 1 seed in the Division 4 field.

The Tigers (15-1-2), which lost in Tuesday’s Western Mass. Class B title game to Pope Francis, earned a bye into the Round of 32 and will host the winner of No. 32 Bourne and No. 33 Saint Paul Diocesan.

Elsewhere in the girls’ Div. 4 bracket, No. 10 Hampshire Regional (8-7-2) will host No. 23 Tyngsborough and No. 19 Easthampton (13-5) will travel to No. 14 Lunenburg in Round of 32 contests.

In Div. 2, Amherst (12-5-1) is the No. 33 seed and will travel to No. 32 Somerset Berkley for a preliminary round game. Northampton (9-9) is the No. 34 seed in the field and will stay locally in the preliminary round with a trip to No. 31 Chicopee Comp. The Amherst-Somerset winner advances to play top-seeded Masconomet in the Round of 32 while the Northampton-Comp victor heads to No. 2 Nashoba.

In Div. 3, Belchertown (8-5-5) is the No. 14 seed and hosts No. 19 Wilmington in the Round of 32. Holyoke (10-5-3) drew the No. 42 seed and visits No. 23 Sandwich in a preliminary round game.

The Division 5 field on the girls’ side features five local programs. No. 20 Granby (7-10-1), fresh off a runner-up showing in the Western Mass. Class D tourney, will host No. 45 Burke School in a prelim, while Hopkins Academy (12-3-3) is the No. 21 seed and will entertain No. 44 South Shore Charter.

Smith Academy (12-3-3) checks in at No. 24 and will host No. 41 Avon in the prelims, while Smith Voc (11-3-2) is the 31st-seeded team in the field and will host No. 34 Athol in a prelim game. Gateway (6-6-2) is the No. 43 seed in the field and heads to No. 22 Drury in the prelims.

All preliminary round games are likely scheduled for Friday or Saturday, though official times weren’t available at press time.

Hampshire headlines boys programs

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The Raiders lead the way for Hampshire County as the No. 3 seed in the Division 4 field after a 15-0-3 season. Hampshire will await the winner of No. 30 Manchester Essex and No. 35 Tri-County Regional in the Round of 32.

Elsewhere in Division 4, Frontier (16-1-1) is the eighth-seeded team in the field and will host the winner of No. 25 Tyngsborough and No. 40 Falmouth Academy. Defending state champion South Hadley (8-8-2) checks in at No. 36, and the Tigers head to No. 29 Winthrop in a preliminary round game.

Northampton (10-7-1) is the lone local in the Div. 2 field, and the 33rd-seeded Blue Devils will travel to No. 32 Doherty Memorial for a prelim game.

In Div. 3, Belchertown (9-5-4) finds itself in unfamiliar territory compared to recent years. The Orioles are the No. 23 seed in the field, and will play on the road at No. 10 Nauset in the Round of 32.

Four Hampshire County programs are in the Div. 5 field. Smith Voc (13-4-1) leads the bunch as the No. 30 seed, and the Vikings will host No. 35 Atlantis Charter in a prelim. No. 38 Smith Academy (11-3-4) heads to No. 27 Tech Boston for a prelim, while No. 39 Granby (11-1-6) visits No. 26 Upper Cape Cod. Rounding out the field is No. 40 PVCICS (11-5-2), which travels to No. 25 University Park to open its state tournament debut.